Miscommunication
by DD Agent
Summary: Alicia finds out that Eli deleted Will's voicemail message. Eli/Alicia, spoilers for 2.01


**Miscommunication by DD Agent**

_I do not own The Good Wife or any of its characters, or its settings_

It was only when she got her phone bill that she realised that anything was wrong. She got charged for calling her voicemail to check her messages and it was only when she noticed that something was off did Alicia check the date. It was the day of Peter's press conference, the day Will had confessed his need for her. The day she had let Eli Gold take her blackberry when she effectively made her choice between Will and Peter.

She went to his office, not wanting to question him at the campaign office or at her own. She sat, reading a magazine in the cold waiting room until the bright receptionist let her into the spacious office. Alicia sat down in front of the desk, feeling in control - she knew what she was doing, and finally was on the offensive against Eli Gold.

The door to her left opened and Eli walked through, smiling. He seemed pleased to see her, and she stood up to shake his hand. "Good afternoon Mr Gold."

He gestured for her to sit back down. "Mrs Florrick, how may I help you?" He was very good at his job, keeping face. But so was she, she was very good at being a lawyer and keeping her cards close to her chest. So she just smiled, didn't say anything to tip her hand too early. Just focussed on her goal. She put the phone bill with the highlighted sections on his desk and stood back, sitting down and waiting for him to absorb what she had just given him.

She smiled at him, and watched as his face fell for a split second. "What did you hear, and what did you do, Mr Gold?" Her voice was calm, quiet, controlled. He kept his face intact, always keeping face.

He wondered for a moment what to do, what he could get away with. Make up a lie, just something to keep things intact for Peter as he knew once Alicia found out the truth, she would want to do something, and she was the only thing that could affect Peter's judgement - the campaign could be over in a matter of hours. So he just decided to do what would be best and tell the truth. She would know eventually, Alicia Florrick was good like that.

"Lawyer boy is in love with you. Sorry, I deleted the message," he confessed offhandedly, trying to make it sound like it was nothing. Still the same smile, rigid in place on his face.

As he said the words, a shiver startled Alicia's skin. Will was in love with her? Was that why he had been so off with her in the past few weeks, he thought she had received the message and hadn't responded? Gold had completely removed her decision - how dare he? She slammed her hands down on his desk, and she saw the fear in Gold's eyes - this wasn't going to be good for Peter. She was glad she had affected him.

"You had _no _right to do that. You took away my right to choose who to spend my life with, how _dare _you; you're paid to sort out Peter's career, not to play God with my life!"

Instead of an apology, Gold just scoffed and began to laugh. He was amused. "You'd have run off with lawyer boy, huh? Number sixteen eligible bachelor in Chicago, really? You didn't leave Peter when he went to jail, you stayed and you fought for your life with your children. Tell me honestly, Alicia, that you are angry with me because I didn't tell you that a man you could have run off with months ago said he loved you. I removed a complication in your life that you would have sidestepped anyway, so don't play the victim. Don't try to fool me, Alicia, you can't."

"I wanted the choice! I…I love Will."

Alicia suspected the fear in his eyes to grow. She _wanted _that fear in them, to punish him. The idea that he would lose, that Peter would not win. But instead of seeing the sparks of uncertainty that had started off their conversation, Eli Gold just smiled, straightened his tie and leaned back in his chair. It was then she realised Gold was a better card player than her, and he had a royal flush lying in front of him.

"You _love _Will? I pride myself on my instincts and my ability to detect bullshit, Alicia. You don't love lawyer boy, you're just tempted by something you never got to experience, the unknown of something years ago at College. You don't love the bachelor and unfortunately for my job you don't love Peter."

Alicia was about to say something, but he waved his hand. He wasn't finished. "But you love your kids, and until they turn eighteen you don't want to fuck up their lives anymore than their Daddy sleeping with a prostitute did. Because a high profile divorce like yours and Peters is going to screw everything up. So you're staying with him, very honourable."

She was fuming, but he wouldn't stop. He was on a roll; everything that had been bottled up about his dealing with Alicia Florrick was finally coming out. They both appreciated candidacy and he was enjoying himself as he moved around the side of the table where Alicia was standing, her hands bunched. "But most of all, Alicia, you don't want to end up like your mother."

Alicia slapped him. The palm of her hand made his cheek sting viciously. Blood rushed to his skin, making his normal pale flesh flood with colour. She had hit him so hard that the skin was fracturing, and the tiny blood vessels were standing out against his skin.

"Well look at that, you do bleed."

He snarled; his face hurting. God she could hit something _shocking_. He hated to lose, and he wasn't going to let her have the last word. "You think I'm some sort of robot, Alicia? You think that I _enjoy _having to put my clients first? I like to win, I like crushing my opponents and I like the money. But I've had to put a lot of the things that I like to do on hold. I wanted to write, years ago when I was a poor student in College. Can't write a novel when you're spending every evening watching YouTube to make sure your client isn't getting fucked by some viral idiots wanting to get their five minutes of fame."

Alicia took a step back, amazed that she'd hit Gold. She wasn't used to physical violence; she had hit Peter after the scandal had broken but that was about it. Gold tipped some of his bottled water onto a tissue and put it on his cheek, dabbing at the skin.

"You think I _like _seeing you with Peter or with lawyer boy, a love triangle for the ages blah blah blah. You're an incredible lawyer, Alicia, and my God if I had the time and the inclination to screw over my client I'd happily take you on this desk as you may well be the prettiest woman I have ever seen, and I used to work in LA. There, you happy?"

She was looking at him, not sure if she had heard him correctly. She moved forward, looking deep into Eli's eyes. They were full of sincerity for once in the time they had known each other. He was wondering what she was going to do, and she put her arms around his neck, going so slowly it was like they were stuck in a freeze frame. Alicia pressed her lips to his chin, taking a deep intake of breath. She was giving them plenty of space to break things off if they wanted to, but neither of them did.

Eli looked her straight in the eye, seeing her smile. This wasn't love; this wasn't any deep true feelings. Just emotion and attraction, two people coming together on the basis of honesty, something she had never ever got from the other men in her life. He made a split second choice about what he wanted, and Eli rolled his eyes.

"Oh screw it, we're ahead in the polls anyway," Eli muttered, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her, pushing his lips over hers until she moaned loudly. She bit his tongue; he gripped her hips so hard she would have bruises. Two forces pushing together to create a natural disaster, but they didn't care.

They kept kissing, pulling off shirt jackets and Eli pushed Alicia down on his desk, still kissing her. His last thought was 'at least I'll be in control of this situation when it hits the headlines' before he got lost in Alicia, and she took control of him.

Across the street, in another office overlooking that of Eli Gold's, a man with a camera photographed the former State's Attorney's wife having sex with her husband's campaign manager on his desk. It was pure gold, and Child's would be _very _interested in his photographs. The man smiled as he left, having got what he needed to put the final nail in the coffin of Peter Florrick.


End file.
